Improvement in machines for making heel-stiffeners



S. MOORE & H. ROGERS.

improvement in Machines for Making Hei-.Stiffener-s'.. N 132849 Patented Nov.5,1 872.

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7 AM FHflTfl-LITHOGEAPHIC CQMY OSEORNES PROCESS) UNITED STATES PATENT OEEro IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR MAKING HEEL-STIFFENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,249, dated November 5, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, STEPHEN MOORE and HOMER ROGERS, both of Sudbury, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have jointly invented an Improvement in the Manufacture of Heel-Oounters and Stiffeners and we do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description of our invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

Our invention relates to the manufacture of heel-stitfeners from leather board, and particularly to the method of forming the lip or flange upon each stiffener, and of producing a stiffener having a body contracting from the bottom to the top. In making such stiffeners we use a stationary heel-shaped former-block, .(setso as to leave a space beneath it,) a slidin g bender or follower that presses the leather board or blankaround this block, and an under slide that presses in or crimps the bottom edge of the blank to form the lip or flange, the follower moving up against the blank and pressing it upon and around the former-block and griping the bent blank thereto, and the under slide then moving against the bottom edge of the bent blank (such edge not being griped) and pressing the edge under the former-block to crimp it. It is in such an organization that our invention primarily consists.

By making the former-block heel-shaped, or with an inclined face, the action of the crimper-slide in producing the crimped flange or bottom sets the stiffener to its shape.

The drawing represents a machine embodying our invention. A shows aplan of the machine. B is a central vertical section of it. 0 is a similar section, showing the slides closed upon the former-block.

1. denotes a table or bed-plate, having at one end a former-block,'b, which at and near its curved sides stands above the table, or so as to leave a space, 0,beneath it. Upon the table are guide-ways d d, between which slides the follower e. i The block b has a heel-shaped contour, and the follower has a converselyshaped face or a hollow face that fits the outer face of the former-block. Beneath the follower-slide is a crimper-slide, g. This slide is connected, by a link, h, with an eccentric strap, t, running around an eccentric, k, on a shaft, 1, which shaft is driven by hand or by other suitable power. The follower is drawn back by the link, which extends through a slot, m, of the follower-slide, and is. thrown forward in advance of the crimper-slide, and as the latter moves forward, by a suitable weight or spring, the follower first taking the blank and bendin g it around the former-block, and the crimper-slide following and acting against the bottom edge of the blank, which edge extends below the block b, bending said edge inward and crimping it upon the bottom of the formerblock. By thus first bending the body and then griping it, and then bending and crimping the edge, the stiffener is shaped in such manner as to retain the form thus imparted to it. The former is made tapering or inclined at the curved end n, and by crimping the edge when the back of the stiffener is upon this surface the edge-bend is produced in such man nor as to secure this form in the stiffener, this being a very desirable shape, or the shape most required in using the stiffener for a boot or shoe.

We claim- 1. The combination of the stationary former-block b, the slide-follower e, and the crimper-s'lide g, the follower and slide moving in right lines, and operating substantially as described.

2. The former-block, having'the tapering or inclined surface it, substantially as shown and described. I

3. The process herein described of automatically, and by a continuous movement of the prime motor, shaping and setting to shape heel-stifieners by first bending and gripin g the body and then crimping the bottom edge, substantially as described.

STEPHEN MOORE. HOMER ROGERS.

Witnesses 0. PER-LEY ORDWAY, Guns. 0. PARMENTER. 

